Reddit mentions of House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea Infuser - Fits Standard Cups Mugs Teapots - Large Size Perfect Stainless Steel Filter for Brewing Steeping Loose Tea, Travel Ready (Extra Fine Mesh)

1. You can use a french press. Just don't press it all the way to the bottom, stop when you get about half way. That will filter out the leaves without mashing them.
   
   
2. You can use a gaiwan for any tea. Certain brewing methods may bring out the best in certain types of tea, but at the end of the day, they all still just brew tea. You might experiment to find what method you like the best :)
   
   
3. No comment on the gaiwan, and the Hario teapot is one often recommended here. For one person, though, I would start with a mug infuser. I use this one.
   
   
4. Inexpensive sampler packs:
   
   

• Verdant Tea ($5 for 5) mixed variety, will be black/oolong/pu'erh
  
  
• Den's Tea ($3 for a bunch) Japanese green teas
  
  
• Yezi Tea ($6 for 6 plus like $2.50 shipping) mixed variety
  
  
• Upton has $1 - $1.50 samplers, plus shipping, if you want to pick and choose. They're best for black teas, especially Indian varieties, and herbals.
  
  

5. Did it have rice in it? It might be Genmaicha, a Japanese green tea with roasted rice, or something like it. I also thought bamboo herbal tea has a popcorn flavor.

First you're going to need tools. I assume you have a 12oz mug.

• Next you should get a cup infuser. This one is inexpensive.
  
• Life is much easier if you pick up an inexpensive digital gram scale. 5g of leaves/12oz mug. Tea leaves come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and trying to do volume measurements can be frustrating.
  
• Check out the Vendor List
  . Pay attention to U.S. vendors. Nearly all of the have sample packages and that's where I would start. Adagio Tea is a good beginner's tea shop.
  
• Order some samples and come back for more advice.

I've got this one and it works pretty well

K-Cup: bad quality coffee/tea that creates unnecessary waste by pushing HOT water through flimsy Plastic. I understand using them at a doctors office or your mechanics ... but I'll never understand people who have them as their everyday home/office coffee/tea maker. okay /rant - thanks for humoring me.

I think you are on the right track with samples. Since she is already into tea - rather than scatter shot sampling, maybe focus on a type of tea. Oolongs have some nice variety. You could do flavored black or flavored green teas. A few different flushes of Darjeeling. Harney has a number of sampler packs you could do. I have the oolong sampler and am really happy with it. Adagio also has sampler gift packs.

for tea making - you could get her a simple strainer and a nice mug. You could go fancier and get a gugfu set, which is always nice for sharing.

I'm not sure how much you're planning on spending - but you could get a variable temperature electric kettle. My favorite is $150, but you can get kettles for much cheaper (~$30)

This is my favorite all around, and I've tried a lot:

https://www.amazon.com/Extra-Loose-Infuser-House-Again/dp/B01N1OTXHW

If you want something a bit smaller and sturdier, but with slightly bigger holes (that will let more tea particles through):

https://www.amazon.com/FORLIFE-Stainless-Folding-Infuser-Carrying/dp/B00FOMKNSI

Well it's missing the screen. What it is sitting in is just the base to store it in while not in use. It should have a screen that connects to it, similar like these: https://www.amazon.com/Set-Wenmeili-Infuser-Strainer-Silicone/dp/B01G89T33Q/ref=sr_1_281?keywords=tea+infuser&qid=1559275217&s=gateway&sr=8-281

I had one like the one you have. It's a bad infuser, even if you had the screen to make it work properly. It's too small for the tea to expand and infuse correctly. Just buy one of these for western style loose leaf brewing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N1OTXHW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You could use a fine mesh tea infuser but with coffee.

Heres one that I found with good reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1OTXHW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gfWOCbCEX372R

In regard to straining sludge... Just by coincidence today I was reviewing several "Extra Fine Mesh Loose Leaf Tea Infuser" products on Amazon!! This would strain MOST of the black goop out overnight. Even saw 1 review comment, from a fellow kratomite lol.

My question is: How much are you losing, by straining sludge? As you say, would it require doubling the amount of kratom... so you're losing half the potency? That would not be good.. sure kratom's cheap right now but I dunno it seems wasteful.. I do like the idea of a cleaner "brew".. For hot tea w/ crushed leaf kratom this Tea Infuser would be perfect.

Hey, I have this basket: https://www.amazon.com/Infuser-Handled-Stainless-Infusing-Steeping/dp/B01N1OTXHW/ref=sr_1_31?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1537158119&sr=1-31&keywords=tea+infuser

I dont think it's small, pretty much takes up the circumference of my mug.

I'll try brewing directly in my mug, any suggestions on the ratio of leaves:water and the duration of the steep?

The only bottled water I had on me was Nestle Pure Life which tastes pretty neutral to me.

If you want really good tea, get good loose leaf from a tea site and brew it with an infusing basket like this according to the directions on the tea. It looks more expensive than bagged tea but you can also brew loose leaf multiple times, which usually makes it the more economical option in the long run. Although you can certainly get insanely expensive tea.

Your post got blocked by a privacy filter. For privacy reasons, when sharing Amazon links in a public forum you should delete all the extra parts of the URL that come after the Amazon item number. That "?coliid=" stuff is related to your wishlist and could be used to track back to your Amazon account.

The first link should look like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LQ7NQTW/

And the second like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1OTXHW/


Let me know when you have edited your post and I can unblock it, or for a faster turn around time you could delete it and post again and it should go through on its own.

House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1OTXHW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Great for cold brewing pitchers full or western in a teapot too

As others have said, there's nothing wrong with supermarket tea (Bigelow's Earl Grey is still one of my favorites, for example, and I've tried all sorts of Earl Greys. Numi's Earl Grey is great too, can't be beat, and is in many supermarkets) ... it's ok to try around.

That said, if you know where to go, some bulk teas will be even cheaper.

For example, Upton Tea's Season's Pick Teas are not the best, but they can be pretty darn good, and they are fantastic values. Also, if you poke around, you'll find some great deals for certain regions and seasons. Lately, for example, Assams and other Indian teas have been shockingly inexpensive (maybe even immorally so), and you can get some great deals. Similarly, some Myanmar teas can be great deals. It's like a lot of things: there are some great deals among the less popular; fads come and go in cycles, and it's cheapest to explore options when certain types of teas are on the downswing.

Also, depending on where you are, take a look in antique and vintage stores for handmade pottery (and other non-handmade stoneware and porcelain). Sometimes you can find really great one-of-a-kind pieces for really inexpensive. Don't worry too much about matching tea sets; the highest-end stoneware is all one-of-a-kind anyway, and building a collection of eclectic pieces I think is more satisfying in the end than a matching set.

Similarly, look in thrift stores and ebay for things like kettles and infusers. They just need to work, which isn't saying a lot when it comes to boiling water. Infusers just need to be able to let tea expand enough; tea balls get a bad rep, but if they're big, you'll be fine, and they're often easier to find for cheap in thrift stores (although infusers are one piece of equipment I recommend just paying money for--a Finum basket or House Again infuser on Amazon are your best bets). I imagine you could even forego a kettle altogether if you are just drinking yourself and have access to a microwave, or just want to use a saucepot.